Posted
by
timothyon Saturday September 22, 2012 @08:29AM
from the prepare-the-sniping-software dept.

shortyadamk writes "According to the Government Services Administration auction page: 'Attention GSA Auctions bidders and interested participants. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Space Shuttle Program has retired and NASA has partnered with GSA Auctions to sell the many shuttle related items through a series of auctions in 2012.' The only catch is that you must be a U.S. Citizen and schedule a visit 48 hours ahead of time to pick up your item. I'm not really sure which piece of the shuttle I'd want the most... Those robotic arms are pretty sweet."

The Shuttles were built with U.S. taxpayer dollars. Hence it's technically already owned by U.S. citizens. The auction is more to decide which citizen should get each piece, not to make back the cost of building the things.

Well duh. How could anyone miss it, being clearly labeled 'Canada' with a flag right there? You know, it's funny, Canadians are among the most anti-nationalists out there. As an American, I hear the criticism long and loud. Nationalism and patriotism are bullshit. Nonetheless...how is it that Canadians are first and foremost when it comes to trumpeting their own flag-waving nationalism? I just have a hard time understanding it.

The problem you're having is binary thinking. It does not follow from a belief that someone is too nationalistic that you must eschew nationalism entirely. Upgrade from a bit-brain to something capable of more nuanced thought, and you'll have no trouble understanding that there's nothing contradictory in such opinions. You'll also understand that "too much salt is bad for you" diesn't mean "salt is bad for you" and other common problems that trip-up people with poor reasoning skills, and probably realize

Leave it to our federal government to pay for their own auction site when Ebay already exists. They wont ship any of it so that basically counts out 99.9% of buyers. I'd have paid $10 for some random piece of hardware I could say came from the space program, but I sure as hell am not flying to Florida to pick it up. Oh well.